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Marcus Whitman, M, D, 



Proofs of His Work in Saying Oregon to 
THE United States, and in Promot- 
ing THE Immigration of 
1843. 



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m^'^' 




»IES THE PRINTEB. 



-i-JI 



MARCUS WHITMAN, M. D. 



^ROOFS OF HIS WORK 

SAVING OREGON 



To the United States, 

AND IN 

PROMOTING THE IMMIGRATION 
OF ]843. 



By rev. M. EELLS. 



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PORTLAND, OREGON : 
Geo. H. Himes' Book and Job Printing House. 

1SS3. 



1 



V' 



NOTE. 

If any one can give additional inloniiatioii <>ii the suhjeetH 
herein mentioned, the writer Mill be thanktul to receive it. 
S/iokomlfih, Mason Co., Wash. Terr''}j. 



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iy 



Did Dr. M. Whitman Save Oregon? 




S this subject has been somewhat widely discussed, and 
entirely ojiposite opinions readied by different individu" 
uals, the writer has gathered all the evidence in regard to 
the subject that he has been able to obtain, and herewith gives 
it. The witnesses are eleven in number, and consist mainly of 
those who were most intimate with Dr. Whitman. Much of this 
evidence is dated within a few years, because the writer has only 
become thoroughly interested in the subject since 1879. 

(I.) WILLIAM GEIGER, JR., M. D. 

The writer has known Dr. Geiger for thirty-four years. About 
1880 he learned through Rev. G. H. Atkinson, D. D., that Dr. 
Geiger knew considerable on the subject, and in 1881, while on a 
visit to Forest Grove, he had a conversation with Dr. Geiger and 
took down the most of the following statement. Thinking, how- 
ever, that it would be best to have the doctor's own signature to 
it, in 1883 he obtained it as follows : 

Forest Grove, Oregon, June .5, 1883. 
Rev. y\. Eells: 

jS'ir— In answer to your inquiries about Dr. M. Wliitinan 1 will say that I 
came to this country in 1839, and was at Dr. Whitman's retjuest in charge of 
his station in 1842-3, while he went East, and remained there after his return 
about three weeks, and had many conversations with him on the object of 
his going, after his return. I was there again in 18J.3 and 18-16. 

His main object in going East was to save the country to the United States, 
as he believed there was great danger of it.s falling into the hands of Eng- 
land. Incidentally he intended to obtain more missionary help, and for this 
object I scut provisions to Fort Hall for them in 1843. The immigration of 
1812, especially Mr. A. L. Lovcjoy, bi-ought word that there was danger that 
the English would obtain Oregon, hence Dr. Whitman went East. When he 
reached Missouri he hoard that the danger was very great of losing this 
country, hence he hurried on without taking time to get a clean shirt or pair 
of pants. Either himself or brother had been a classmate of the secretary 
of war, and Dr. Whitman went to him and through him obtained an Intro- 



* l»ri» UH. .M. WHITMAN SAVK OHKfJON? 

ductlou to Secretary Webster. lUU Wel.si.n- .aid ll.a. i( was too late, thai he 
had signed the papers and given (Umm („ the presi.lent. He would not intro- 
duce h.n, to the president. Dr. Whitman went l.aek to the .seeretarv of war. 
and through him ol.tained an inlroduetion to the president, who heard his 
statements Of the value of Oregon, an. 1 the possihili.y of taking an emigra- 
tion there. At last the president promised to wait before proeeeding further 
m the buslne.ss, until Dr. Whitman should see whether he eould get the 
emigration through. "That is all I want.- said Dr. Whitman. He immedl- 

lulLlZ\ ,1 '""■'^ '" ^'*''"'"' '^ "^""^ "'^" ''■'^''''-'^ '" «"• --^"^ h^d it 
published in the papers and in a pamphlet 

R^rH^^" ZT ♦°.^^"-^'""- ^"^'hen he tirst me) Mr. Hill, treasurer of the 
Board, Mr. Kill received him c.uite roughly. Mr. Hill said, "What are you 

as he otrered him some money, -Go and get some decent clothes." Dr! 

Sal I'f Dr" wt!^.°" ''''; "",!," "''^ '""• '''"^ "^'-^^ "•■^>- '^"•- "'" ^•'1'^ ^'oro .-or- 
fi,^;« M ; ^T° ^'"'^ "'° "''" once, he told it tome perhaps twenty 
^Zi'y. \ ''"' "''*°" '"' '■•^*"'"" ='^ M'-..Spauldings station, as I 

aT ?ff temporarily on account of sickness in Mr. Spaulding's family. 
About the same time he told Mr. Spaulding the same. He afterwards told It 
to "s both, and in riding together afterwards on the road he said the same, 
and these repeated statements, which were always precisely alike, impressed 
L7^V ' °'' ^ "''^''^ P^'^'^P'^ ^'^^« forgotten them. As far as I know, 

?orn ?, Ir "''•'''° ^^^'••«Pa"Jding and myself, and .said he had his reasons 
for not telling everybody. 

After the immigration arrived in ISJL', and he had learned what I have pre- 
wT win ? '■'■°'" 'he"' ^^^'°"t the danger of losing Oregon, he went to Fort 
Walla Walla (now Wallula) to learn if it was true, as the Hudson's Bay Com- 
pany s annual brigade or express had Just arrived from Montreal Dr Whit- 

"'"s°to obtain o'""' '""."'/"f "-^'-^t^v had not been signed by which England 
Avas to obtain Oregon, but they sAid that they e.xpected to get it. Dr Whit- 
man, however, knew that if he should let it be known that he went on this 
busine.ss alone, the Hud.son's J^ay Company would never allow him to go 
through, hence he called the mission together, and there was considera.de 
said about missionary busine.ss and more laborers, so that the Hudson's Bay 
C ompany would not interfere with him. 

<^'P"C'^) WILLIAM GEIGKR, .JR., M. I). 

Subscribed and sworn to before me this oth day of June A D im 

(^^^Sned) „ HlKiHES, 

Xotari/ Public /or Oregon. 

(2.) REV. H. H. SPAULDING. 

Mr. Spaulding came to the country in 1836, in company with 
Dr. Whitman, and was in the mission of the A. B. C. F. M. till 
after Dr. Whitman's death. His station was at Lajnvai, now in 
Idaho. He died i.i 1874, l.ut has left this statement in Executive 
Document No. 87, 41st Congress, 3d Session, Senate, 1871 pp 
20-22 : ' > 1 1 • 

The peculiar event that aroused Dr. Whitman, and sent him tlirou-h thc^ 
mountains of New Mexico during that terrible winter of 1S»;{ to Washington 
just in time to save this now so valuable count ry from being traded ofT bv 
Webster to the shrewd Englishman for a "cod rtshery - down East, was as 
follows: In October, 1842, our mission was called together on business at 
W aiUatpu, Dr. Whitman's station, and while in session Dr. W. was called to 



DIP DR. M. WHITMAN SAVE OREGON? O 

Fort Walla Walla to visit a sick man. While there the brigade for New Cal- 
edonia, fifteen bateaux, arrived at that point on their way up the Columbia, 
with Indian goods for the New Caledonia or Frazer river country. They 
were accompanied by some twenty chief factors, traders and clerks of the 
Hudson's Bay Company, and Bishop Demois [Demers], who had crossed the 
mountains from Canada in 1839 [1838], the first Catholic priest on this coast. 
Bishop Blanchett came at the same time. 

While this great company were at dinner an express arrived from Fort 
Colville announcing the (to them) glad news that the colony from Red river 
had passed the Rocky mountains, and were near Fort Colville. An excla- 
n'lation of joy burst from the whole table, at first unaccountable to Dr. Whit- 
man, till a young priest, perhaps not so discreet as tlie older, and not 
thinking there was an American at the table, sprang to his feet, and swing- 
ing his hand, exclaimed, " Hurrah for Columbia (Oregon)! America is too 
late; we have got the country." In an instant, as if by instinct, Dr. Whit- 
man saw through the whole plan, clear to Washington, Fort Hall and all 
[i. e. the stopping of all immigrant and Ainerican wagons at Fort Hall by tjjie 
Hudson's Bay Company every year to that time]. He immediately rose from 
tlie table, and asked to be excused, sprang upon his horse, and in a very short 
time stood with his noble "cayuse" Avhite with foam before his door, and 
without stopping to dismount, he replied to our anxious inquiries with great 
decision and earnestness, " I am going to cross the Rocky mountains and 
reach Washington this winter, God carrying me through, and bring out an 
immigration over the mountains, or the country is lost." The events soon 
developed that if that whole-souled American missionary was not the " son 
of a prophet," he guessed right when he said, " a deep-laid scheme was about 
culminating, which would deprive the United States of this Oregon, and it 
must be broken at once or this country is lost." 

We united our remonstrances with those of Sister Whitman, who was in 
deep agony at the idea of her husband perishing in the snows of the Rocky 
mountains. We told him it would be a miracle if he escaped death, either 
from sfarving, or freezing, or the savages, or the perishing of his horses, 
during the five months that would be required to make the only possible 
circuitous route, via Fort Hall, Taos, Santa Fe, and Bent's Fort. His reply 
was that of my angel wife six years before : " I ain ready, not to be bound 
only, but to die at Jerusalem or in the snows of the Rocky mountains for the 
name of the Lord Jesus or my country." And taking leave of his mission- 
ary associates, his comfortable home and his weeping companion, with but 
little hope of seeing them again in this world, he entered upon his fearful 
Journey the 2d [3d] of October, 1842, and i-eached the City of Washington the 
2d of March, 1843, with his face, nose, ears, hands, feet and legs badly 
frozen. 

On reaching the settlements, Dr. Whitman found that many of the now 
old Oregonians, W^aldo, Applegate, Hamtree, Keyser and others, who had 
once made calculations to come to Oregon, had abandoned the idea, because 
of the representations trom Washington that every attempt to take wagons 
and ox teams through the Rocky and Blue mountains to the Columbia had 
failed. Dr. Whitman saw at once what the stopping of wagons at Fort Hall 
every year meant. The representations purported to come from Secretarj' 
Webstei', but ideally from Governor Simpson, who, magnifying the state- 
ments of his chief trader, Grant, at Fort Hall, declared the Americans must 
be going mad from their repeated fruitless attempts to take wagons and 
teams through the impassable regions of the Columbia, and that the women 
and children of those wild fanatics had been saved from a terrible death only 
by the repeated and philanthropic labors of Mr. Grant at Fort Hall, in fur- 
nishing them with horses. The doctor told these men as he met them that 
his only object in crossing the mountains in the dead of winter, at the risk 



DID DK. M. WHITMAN SAVE ORKOOX? 

of his life, through untold suiroiinffs, was to take back an Aincrioan immi- 
gration that summer thiouKh the mountains to the Columbia with their 
wagons and teams. Tlie route was i)raetieable. We had taken our cattle 
and our families through seven years before. The.v had nothing to fear, but 
to be rcad.v on his return. The stopping of wagons at Kf>rt Hall was a Hud- 
son's Ha.v (^ompany scheme to prevent the settling of the country by Ameri- 
cans, till they could settle It with their own subjects from the Selkirk 
settlement. This news spread like wild-tire through Missouri, as will bo seen 
from Zacharys statement. The doctor pushed on to Washington, and im- 
mediately sought an interview with Secretary Webster— l)oth being from tlie 
same stnte— and stated to him tlie object of his crossing the mountains, and 
laid before him the great importance of Oregon to tlie United States. But 
Mr. Webster lay too near Cape Cod to see things in the same.light with his 
fellow statesman, who had transferred his worldly interests to the Paciflc 
coast. He awarded sincerity to the missionary, but could not admit for a 
moment that the short residence of six years could give the doctor the 
knowiedgeof tlie country possessed by (Jovernor Simpson, who had almost 
grown up in the country, and had traveled every part of it, and represents 
it as one unbroken waste of sand deserts and impassable mountains, tit only 
for the beaver, the giay bear and the savage. Besides lie had aliout traded it 
off with Governor Simpson to go into the -Xshburton treaty (!) for a cod 
fishei-y in Newfoundland. 

The doctor next sought through senator Linn an interview with President 
Tyler, who at once appreciated his solicitude, and his timely representations 
of Oregon, and especially his disinterested though hazardous undertaking 
to cross the Kock.v mountains in winter to take back a caravan of wagons. 
He said that although the doctors representations of the character of the 
country, and the possibility of reaching it by wagon route, were in direct 
contradiction to tliose of (Jovernor Sim jison, his frozen limbs were a sufTicicnt 
proof of his sincerity, and his missionary cliaractcr were a sutlicient guar- 
anty for his honesty, and he would therefore as president rest upon tlie.se 
and act accordingl.v; would detail Fremont with a military force to escort 
the doctor's caravan through the mountains; and no more action should be 
had toward trading otfOregoii till he could hear the results of the expedition. 
If the doctor could establish a wagon route through the mountains to the 
Columbia river, pronounced impassable li.v (iovernor Simpson and Ashbur- 
ton, he would use his influeuce to hold on to Oregon. The great desire of the 
doctor's American soul, Christian withal, that is, the pledge of the president 
that the swapping of Oregon with Kngland for a cod fishery should stop for 
the present, was attained, although at the risk of life, and through great suf- 
ferings, and unsolicited and witliout the promise or expectation of a dollar's 
reward from any source. And now, (^od giving liim life and strength, he 
would do the rest, that is, connect the Missouri and Columbia rivers with a 
wagon track .so deep and plain that neither national envy nor .sectional 
fanaticism would ever blot it out. And when the 1th of September, 1843, saw 
the rear [van] of the doctor's caravan of nearl.v two hundred wagons, with 
which lie started from Missouri the last of .\.pril, emerge from the western 
shades of the Blue iiiounlains, the grcatesl work was finished ever accom- 
plished ))y one man for the coast. .\nd through that great emigration, dur- 
ing the wliole summer, the doctor was ever.vwhere present, an angel of 
merc.v, Jiiinistcring to the sick, helping the wcar.v, encouraging the waver- 
ing, cheering the mothers, mending wagons, setting broken bones, hunt- 
ing stray oxen, climbing precipices, now in the rear, now at the center, now 
at the front ; in the rivers looking out fords through the »iuicksands, in the 
deserts looking out water, in the dark mountains looking out pas.ses; at 
noontide or midnight, as though those thousands were his own children, and 
those wagons and those flocks were his own property. .Mthough he asked 



DID DR. M. WHITMAN SAVE OREGON? / 

not and expected not a dollar as a reward from any source, he felt himself 
abundantly rewarded when he saw the desire of his heart accomplished, the 
great wagon route over the mountains established, and Oregon in a fair way 
to l)e occupied with American settlements and American commerce. And 
especially he felt himself doubly paid, when at the end of his successful ex- 
pedition, and standing alive at his home again on the banks of the "Walla 
Walla, these thousands of his fellow summer pilgrims, wayworn and sun- 
browned, took him by the hand and thanked him with tears for what he 
had done. 

The followiiig testimony, coming from Mr. Moores, of Marion 
county, Oregon, sjjeaker of the House of Representatives for 
Oregon, who received it from Mr. 8paulding, gives more of the 
details of the interview between Dr. Wliitman and Mr. Webster. 
Tlie occasion of Mr. Moore's remarks was the presentation of the 
tomahawk with wliich Dr. Whitman was killed, to the archives 
of the state. They are taken from the Danville (N. Y.) Adver- 
tincr of May 4, 186"), which copied them from the Sacramento 
Daihj Bullefin : 

Dr. Whitman's remonstrances were met by Mr. Webster with a smile, who 
said : " Why, doctor, you have come too late, we have about traded off the 
northwest coast for a codrtshery." 

" Hut, sir, you do not know what you are doing. You do not realize that 
the territory you mention with a smile— almost a sneer— could make a home 
for millions, that it has broad navigable rivers, leading to an ocean whose 
commerce includes the Indies and the Orient, and that we have fine harbors 
and broad bays to invite that commerce thither, and offer an anchorage to 
the navies of the world. Then there are beautiful and fertile valleys whose 
harvests will yield eventual increase to our nation's wealth." 

" You are enthusiastic, doctor," answered the secretary with an easy smile. 
" You certainly are an enthusiast. The reports that come to us from Oregon 
differ materially from yours. The central portions of the continent are a 
barren waste, and the waters of the western slope course through a moun- 
tain wilderness or else a desert shore. The mountaineer can hunt and trap 
there. The tourist may sketch its snow-capped ridges, and describe the 
Indian in his native haunts. The trapper finds a home there, but who 
besides?" 

"Sir, you have no idea of the land you sneer at. Oregon has all the virtues 
that we claim for it. A few Americans have gone thither to develop our 
nation's wealth. We are far off, but our hearts are \vith the nation of 
our birth. We are pioneers, and can it be possible that our claims will be 
ignored, that our country can consent to trade off the territory and our 
allegiance to a foreign power ?" 

(3.) HON. "WILLIAM H. GRAY. 

Mr. Gray first came to the country as an associate missionary 
of the A. B. C. F. M. in 1830, in company with Dr. Whitman, 
He returned for more missionaries in 1837, and came back again 
with his wife and others in 1838. From that time until 1842 he 
was stationed a part of the time with Mr. Spaulding, and a part 



^ mi) 1)K. M. WHITMAN SAVE ORE(K)N? 

witl. Dr. Whitman. He left tl.o mission in 1,S4l', .soon after I)r 
\N iMtnmn went East, and went to the Willamette valley. He is 
the author of (iray's History of (),e,,on, fron, which the folhnv- 
ing .statements are taken : 

• o^^J^T^^-'"''- '^''"^""'■' "■- '-"-' •" Visit a patient at 
settlement in M.ccnntry ^ """'' "' ^''^ "^^'•'*' numerous and permanent 

sui;';;fr?;;,;:?;;,a;;;;r!u;;';e:o: w^"'"t"" r^^^--^^^"'^ P-ventthere. 

shall be prevented ••irtlodiS-'i^^ ""' '^ '''■'''°' "• "" 

^ZZ^: "" °^^^^"^^ ^ ^^^« ^'•- ^^•^^^™-«' ^^r. l!oveJo,-:lnTmy own 

Jl?ZT'" 'T7! '"^ '''''''' ^^ ""''• '^P^"l^""g. a« to the results, 
as already quoted from Mr. Spaulding : 

Page 609. "If the Board dismisses me I will do whnf t „o * 

t»^:^.Sn peS;:^ ^^ °' ^-^ ^'""^ --•"'' *'• ^ -« «-« tl^ls country tv>r 

On pages 315 and 316 is also an account of the interview at 
Washington, in no way differing from Mr. Sj.aulding's. 

Again, on page 17, of a pamphlet entitled, " Did Dr. Whitman 
!^ave Oregon ?" Mr. Gray says : "uxnan 

What I learned Ironi Dr. Whitman personally was- \u- w i . 



DID DR. M. WHITMAN SAVE OREGON? 9 

(Dr. Whitman's) reasons against such a change. But the president listened 
more favorably, and said no such change or giving up of Oregon should be 
made, if lae could get wagons and an emigration into Oregon. * * * Mr. Web- 
ster was strongly in favor of the Newfoundland codrtshery. He was held in 
check by Benton, Adams and others. Benton had a better knowledge of 
Oregon than Webster, who had been or become unpopular for his yielding 
on the Eastern or Maine question with Ashburtou. The petition that had 
been sent by the missionaries, and the statements made by different parties, 
added to the personal representations made by Dr. Whitman, as to the i^rac- 
ticability of a wagon route, and the fact that the doctor's mission in 188(i 
had taken cows and wagons to Fort Boise, and that they could be taken to 
the Columbia river,— that fact, as aflirmed by Dr. Whitman, stopped all spec- 
ulations about giving up Oregon, till the practical road (luestion was 
settled. 

On March 9th, 1883, the writer wrote a letter to Mr, Gray, 
asking how much of his statements in his history in regard to 
Dr. Whitman's visit East, and especially in Chapter 41st, page 
315, etc., were received directly from Dr. Whitman, and how 
much second-hand from others, and received a reply under date 
of March 2H, 1883, from which the following extracts are made : 

'I have just closed the reading of my forty-nrst chapter, to which you refer. 
The facts stated are literally true, as coming to me from the actors, some of 
them penciled in my note-book as a listener, and also a review of testimony 
printed, from which I copied. Dr. Whitman, you will bear in mind, was m.i/ 
wannest friend and confidant in all that pertained to the mission and the 
policy and designs of the Hudson's Bay Company. I met him in Oregon 
City in my own home, after his return from Washington. Spent an after- 
noon and evening with him, and learned of him the result of his visit to 
Washington, and the treatment he received from Webster and from the 
Prudential Board or Committee of Missions. Yours, etc., 

(Signed) W. H. GRAY. 

(4.) REV. C. EELLS. 

Mr. Eells came to the country in 1838, as a missionary of the 
A. B, C. F. M,, and continued in that relation until after the 
death of Dr. Whitman in 1847. He was stationed among the 
Spokane Indians at Tshimakain, or Walker's Prairie, in Spokane 
county, Washington Territory. 

Statements made by Rev. Cushing Eells, relative to the object of 
Marcus Whitman, M. D., in making an overland jowney from 
the Waiilatpu mission station in the Walla Walla valley to 
the Atlantic states during the autnnm and unnter of 1842 and 
1843 : 

September, 1842, a letter, written by Dr. Whitman, addressed to Rev. Messrs. 
E. Walker and C. Eells at Tshimakain, reached its destination and was 
received by the persons to whom it was written. By the contents of said 
letter a meeting of the Oregon Mission of the American Board of Commis- 



10 l)II> 1)U. M. Win I'M AN s.wi; OKKCON? 

siontTs lor l-'orfltjn Missions was invited to lie liclil al Waiilalim. Tlic objcot 
or said nicctiiiir. as staled in llir U-ttcr namt-d, was lo approve ol a purpose 
I'orined by Dr. Wliitinan. 1 liat lie },'o Kast on l>eliaU of « M-e-^on as rotated to 
tlie United States. In tlie Judsinenl of Mi-. Walicer and niysell tliat oljjeet 
was lorel}j;n loom- ussi-fned work. Willi tniul)ied tlioiislit'< wi' anticipated 
tile i)rop()sed ineeting. Oi\ tlu- following da.v, W'ednesda.v, we started, and 
on Saturday, i*. m., eamped on the Toueliet, at the ford nesir the MuUan 
liridge. We were pleased with tlie i)rospect of enjoying a i)eriod of rest, re- 
tleetion and prayer— needful preparation for tin- antagonism of opposing 
ideas. \\'e never moved eami) on the Lord's day. t)u .Momhi.v, a. .■*!., we 
arrived at Waiilatpu, and met the two resident families of .Messrs. Whitman 
andtiray. K<'v. H. H. Si)aulding was there. All the male members of the 
mission were thus together. In the diseu.^sion the opinion ol .Mr. Walker 
and myself remained unehanged. The purpose of Dr. Whitman was fixed. 
Di his estimation the saving of Oregon to the United States was of para- 
mount Importance, and he would make the attempt to do so, even if lie had 
to withdraw from the mission in order to accomplish Ills purpose. In reply 
to considerations intended to hold Jir. Whitman to iiis assigned work, lie 
said: "I am not expatriated by becoming a missionary." The idea of his 
withdrawal could not be enterljiined, therefore to retain him in the mission 
a vole to approve of his making the perilous endeavor i)revailed. He had a 
cherished object for the accomplishment of which ho desired consultation 
with liov. David Greene, secretary of correspondence with the mis.sion at 
Boston, Mass., but I have no recollection that it was named in the meeting. 
.\ part of two days was spent in consultation. Record of the date and acts 
of the meeting was made. Tlie book containing the same wa.s in the keep- 
ing of the Whitman family. At the time of their massacre, Nov. 29, 1847, it 
disappeared. 

The llftli da.v of October, following, was designated as the day on which 
Dr. Whitman would expect to start from Waiilatpu. .\ccordingly, letters, of 
which he was to be the l)earer. were reijuired to be furnislu'd him at his 
station in accordance therewith. Mr. Walker and myself returned to 
Tshimakain, prepared letters and forwarded them seasonably to Waiilatpu. 
My the return of the courier information was received that Dr. Whitman 
started on the .'id of October. It is possible that tr.insi)irings at old I-'"'ort 
Walla Walla hastened liis departure two da.vs. 

Soon after his return to this coast, Dr. Whitman said to me he wished he 
could return East immediately, as he believed he could accomplish more 
than he had done, as I understood him to mean, to save this oountr.v to tlie 
United States. I asked him why lie could not go. Ho said. "I can not go 
without seeing Mrs. Whitman." She WiVS then in tlie Willamette valley. 

I solemnly aflirin that the foregoing statements are true and correct, ac- 
cording to the best of my knowledge and belief. So help me Uod. 

(Signed) CUSHINd EELLS. 



Sworn and subscribed to before me this ifd day of August, ISH.'!. 

(Signed) L. E. KEM^OGG, 

Xoturij Public, flpoktine cuunli/, WasMiu/ton Territorij. 



DID DR. M. WHITMAN SAVE OREGON? 11 

(5.) MRS. MARY R. WALKER. 

Rev. Elkanah Walker, with his wife, eanie to tlie country in 
1838 as a missionary of the A. P.. ('. F. M., and was at Tsliinialiain 
with Rev. C Eells until LS4,S. He died in 1877. In ]S,S2 tlie 
writer, while on a visit to Forest Grove, Oregon, the residence of 
his wife, obtained from Mrs. Walker the following facts, which, 
on a subseiiuent visit, she put in writing, as follows: 

FoRKST Gkovk, Oregon, Jiino 7, 1.S8;!. 
Hf.v. M. Eeli.s : 

*SV>— 111 an.swer to your inquiries aliout Dr. Wliitman, I will say that he 
went East in 1842, mainly to save the country from falling into the hands of 
Ensland, as he believed there was great danger of it. He had written Mr. 
Walker several times before about it. One expression I well remember he 
wrote, about as follows: "This country will soon be settled Ity the whites. 
It belongs to the Amerieans. It is a great and rich country. What a country 
this would be for Yankees? Why not tell them of it." 

He was determined to go East on this business, even if he had to leave tlie 
mission to do so. 

Much was said about that time about the Methodist missionaries com- 
ing here, and then leaving their legitimate missionary calling to make 
money, and for other purposes, and some disgrace was brought on 
the missionary cause. Mr. Walker and associates felt that Dr. Whitman, 
in leaving missionary work, and going on this business, was likely also to 
bring disgrace on the cause, and were so atVaid of it that for a long time they 
would hardly mention that object of Dr. Whitman's journey publicly. I 
remember plainly that Mr. Walker often prayed after Dr. Whitman had 
gone, that if it was right for him to go on this business, he might be pre- 
served, but if not his way might be hedged up. When the statements first 
began to be made publicly of this political object of Dr. Whitman's journey 
East, we were then afraid that disgrace would be brought on our mission. 
(Signed) M.VRY R. WALKER. 

(6.) HON. A. L. LOVEJOY. 

Mr. Lovejoy came to the country in 1842, and gave important 
information to Dr. Whitman about the danger of the United 
States losing the country. He was the traveling companion of 
Dr. Whitman's, during his journey East, and was much inter- 
ested on the subject. Before his death he left two letters, one to 
Hon. W. H. Gray (see Gray's History, p. 324), and the other to 
Rev. G. H. Atkinson, D. D. (see fifth annual report of the Pioneer 
and Historical Society of Oregon, p. 13.) In these he gives the 
best and almost only account of that journey which has been 
preserved, and the two accounts agree about the visit to Wash- 
ington. The following is from the letter to Dr. Atkinson : 

Here we parted [at Bent's Fort]. The doctor proceeded to Washington. I 
i-eni allied at Bent's Fort until spring, and joined the doctor the following 



12 l>n> I)l{. M. WIII'I'.MAN SAVK OHK(}ON? 

.lul.N lU'iir Foil Liiraiiiic on liis way Id Oi-cy;"" in coinpaiiy Willi a train ol 
I'miKnuitx. 

Ho olton expressed liimsell' lo me alxmt tlie niiuiiiiuler id' his juurney, and 
tlie iniinnei- in wliich he was leeoived at Washington and by the liourd of 
Koreiftn Missions at Boston. He had several Interviews with President 
Tyler, Secretary Webster, and a f;<><>d niany nieinhers of Congress; Congress 
being in session at tliat time. He urged the immediate termination of the 
treaty with tireat Hritain relative to this country, and ln"gged them to 
extend the laws of the I'nited Slates over Oregon, and asked for liberal In- 
ilucenieiits to emigrants to come to this coast. He was very cordially and 
klutlly received by the president and members of Congress, and without 
tloubt the doctor's interviews resulted greatly to the benefit of Oregon and 
to this coast. 

(Signed) A. LAWR^^Nt^E LOVEJOY. 

The Willamette Farmer^ in an article (iiiotod by the Seattle 
Post-Intelligencer of Nov. 17, 1.SH2, says: 

Mrs. I.ovejoy assures us tliat he [Mr. Lovejoy] was aware of Whitman's 
aims and motives; knew that his great object in the journey was to save 
Oregon from British rule, and gives him credit, in great part, for accomplish- 
ing his patriotic intention. 

Mrs. Lovejoy eaiue in 1843. 

(7.) MR. PERRIN B. WHITMAN. 

Mr, "Whitman is a nephew of Dr. M. Wliitnian. He came to 
this country in 1843, with his uncle, and renuiined with his 
family until a short time before his uncle's death, when he was 
sent to The Dalles to assist Mr. A. Hinman at that station. In a 
letter to the writer, dated February 10, 1882, at Lapwai Indian 
Agency, Idaho, he says : 

Rkv. M. Eells: 

My Dear Sir— I came across to Oregon wltli, my uncle, Dr. Marcus Whitman, 
in 1843. I heard him say repeatedly, on the journey and after we reached 
his ml.sslon, Walilatpu, that he went to the states In the winter of 1842 and 
I84."i lor the sole purpose of bringing an immigration with wagons across the 
plains to Oregon. He was called down to old Foft Walla Walla (now Wal- 
lula), then a Hudson's Bay Company's trading post, on a sick call, about the 
last days of September, 1842. While there, and dining with the trader In charge 
of the fort, Archibald Klnley, E.sq., the Hudson's Bay Company's express 
from the north, came in and reported that sixty families from British pos- 
sessions would be at Walla Walla as early the next summer as they possibly 
could arrive, to settle probably in the Yakima valley. There was a general 
outburst of rejoicing over the news by the Jesuit priests, oblates, fort em- 
ployees, etc., who were at that time there, all shouting, "the country Is ours; 
the Ashburton treaty has, of course, been signed." The doctor, pushing his 
chair ijack from the table, and excusing himself, .said he would go home (to 
Walilatpui tliat afternoon (twenty-flve miles), and start Immediately to the 
states overland. He then and there told trader McKlnley and his guests, 
that during tlie next summer he would bring overiaiuWcH American imnil- 



DI1> DR. M. WHITMAN SAVE OREGON? 13 

grants for every one that would come from Canada. He returned thati after- 
noon, as he said he would, and with but little preparation, except to have 
good horses, started on the perilous journey the third day of October, 1842, 
with Hon. A. L. Lovejoy as traveling companion. 

* * * I think he reached Washington on the twelfth day of February, 
1843. Secretary Webster received him coolly. He said he almost "snubbed 
him," but the president, Mr. Tyler, treated him and the possibility of a 
wagon road across the plains to the Columbia river, with a just considera- 
tion. He, the president, gave the doctor a hearing, and promised him that 
the Ashburton treaty, then pending [a mistake], would not be signed until 
he would hear of the success or failure of the doctor in opening a wagon road 
to the Columbia river. The first of the immigrant wagons arrived at Waiil- 
atpu, Walla Walla valley, on the third day of September, 1843, [perhaps 23d, 
see Missionary Herald, 1844, p. 177], having left Missouri about the first of May. 

His visit to the A. B. C. F. M., I think, was after he had been to Washing- 
ton. At any rate he told me, also his aged mother and other relatives in the 
State of New York, that the Board censured him' in very strong terms for 
leaving his "post of duty" on a project so foreign to that which they had 
sent him out to perform. Also informed him that they had no money to 
spend in the opening up of the western country to settlement. I am quite sure 
he bore his own expenses. He always alluded to his visit to mother and the 
Board of Missions as a secondary consideration for making the winter trip. 
He only visited his mother and relatives three days, and he and myself bade 
them good-bye and started for Oregon on the 20th of April, 1843. 

When (Uncle) Di*. Whitman reached the frontier of Missouri, he in many 
ways informed the public of his intention to nilot any and all immigrants 
who might wish to go to Oregon. It was arranged for them to rendezvous at 
or in the vicinity of Westport or Independence, Mo. 

Hoping that these few items may be of some little assistance to you in 
proving that Dr. Whitman saved this country to the United States Govern- 
ment, I will subscribe myself, Yours respectfully, 

(Signed) P. B. WHITMAN. 



In the Weekly Astorian of December 17, 1880, is a letter to the 
public by Mr. Whitman, obtained by Mr. Gray, October 11, 1880, 
in which he makes similar statements, though not as full, ,and 
adds : 



Dr. Whitman's trip East, in the winter of 1842-43, was for the double pur- 
pose of bringing an immigration across the plains, and also to prevent, if 
possible, the trading ofT of this northwest coast to the British Government. 

* * * While crossing the plains I repeatedly heard the doctor express 
himself as being very anxious to succeed in opening a wagon road across 
the continent to the Columbia river, and thereby stay, if not entirely pre- 
yent, the trading of this northwest coast, then pending between the United 
•States and the British Government. In after years the doctor, with much 
pride and satisfaction, reverted to his success in bringing the immigration 
across the plains, and thought it one of the means of saving Oregon to his 
government. I remained with him continuously till August, 1847, when he 
sent me to The Dalles. He was murdered the following November. 

(Signed) P. B. WHITMAN. 



14 DID DK. M. WHITMAN SAVK OREGON? 

(8.) HON. ALANSON HINMAN. 

Mr. Hininan is now a merchant at Forest Grove, Oregon, and 
President of tiie Board of Trustees of Tualatin Academy and 
Pacific University. In June, 1882, in conversation with him, he 
gave me the following items, to which a year later he signed his 
name: 

Forest Grove, Oregon, June 8, 188:}. 
Uev. M. Eei-i,s: 

Sir— Ju answer to your inquiries about Dr. Wliitnian, I will say that I came 
to this coast in 1S14, and remained tliat winter at Walla Walla [then Waiil- 
atpu] teaching school for Dr. M. Whitman. About the next .Tune (1.S45), I 
came to the Willamette with Dr. Whitman. In 1847, at the time of his mas- 
sacre, I was temporarily In charge of the station at The Dalles with Mr. P. 
H. Whitman. 

Dr. Whitman told me that he went East in 1842 with two objects, one to as- 
sist the mission, the other to save the country to the United States. I do not 
think he would have gone that wintei-, had it not been that the danger 
seemed to him very great that the country would be obtained by England, 
but would have deferred the journey until spring. He first went to Wash- 
ington, afterwards to New York, to see Mr. Horace Greeley, who was known 
to be a friend of this country. He went there dressed in his rough clothes, 
much the same that h(> wore across the continent. When he knocked at the 
door a lady came, Mrs. (xreeley or a daughter, I think, and seeing such a 
rough-looking person, said to his imiuiries for Mr. Greeley, "Not at home." 
Dr. Whitman started away. .She went and told Mr. Greeley aljout him, and 
Mr. Greeley,- who was of much the same style, and cared but little for looks, 
looking out the window and seeing him going away, said to call him in. It 
was done, and they had a long talk about this northwest coast and its polit- 
ical relations. Yours respectfully, 

(Signed) A. HINMAN. 

(g.) SAMUEL J. PARKER, M. D. 

Rev. Samuel J. Parker was the pioneer of the Oregon missions of 
the American Board. He ottered himself to the work in 1833, 
started in 1834, but was too late for the annual caravan, so re- 
turned, and during the winter found Dr. Whitman and interested 
him in the work. They came together into the Rocky mountains 
in 183o, when Dr. Whitman returned for more laborers, and Mr. 
Parker, comi)leted an exploring tour in Oregon, returning home 
in 1837 by way of the Sandwich Islands and Cape Horn, and 
l)ublished a book on the subject— " Parker's P'..\ploring Tour." 

He died at Ithica, N. Y., in 186(). In an article in the MiHsion- 
ar/j Jftrald, INIay, 1870, his son, Prof. H. W. Parker of Grinnell 
College, Iowa, says: "When Dr. Whitman came in ha.ste, in 
1843, to warn our government of British designs, he counselled 
with his aged fellow missionary." A letter to Prof. Parker for more 



DID DK. M. WHITMAN SAVE OREGON? 15 

information on tliis point, bi'ouglit a reply referring the writer to 
his brother, Dr. S. J. Parker, as the one who was at home at the 
time of Dr. Whitman's visit. In rejjly to inquiries. Dr. Parker, 
who was between twenty-five and thirty years old, probably, at 
that time, wrote : 

ITHICA, Tompkins county, New York, Feb. 16, 1883. 
Rev. M. Eells: 

Dear Sir— Yowx note of inquiry of Janviary 31.st is at hand. I reply, first, I 
was at home, in the room in which I now write (as I own the old homestead) 
when Dr. Whitman, in 1843, unexpectedly arrived, in a ratlier rough, but not 
as outlandish a dress as some writers say he had on. After the surprise of 
his arrival was over, he said to my father: "I have come on a very import- 
ant errand. We must both go at once to Washington or Oregon is lost, ceded 
to the English." My father objected to going, and thought the danger less 
than Dr. Whitman thought it was. They talked sevei'al hours about it. My 
first memory was, as I wrote to Hon. Elwood Evans of New Tacoma, Wash- 
ington Territory, that both went in a day or two to Washington, but in this 
I may be mistaken, as to my father. I know that Dr. Whitman went, either 
the next day or a day or two after he came to see my father. 

Dr. Whitman came to see my father after his return from Washington, and 
described his interview with the president and others there. At both times 
the subject of emigration was talked of. Dr. "W'hitman said many in Illinois 
and Missouri, etc., were ready to go, and would go in the spring as soon as 
grass grew. It must have been February the doctor was here. * * * 
With kind regards I am, etc., 
(Signed) S. J. PARKER, M. D. 



(10.) REV. WILLIAM BARROWS, D. D. 

Mr. Barrows was, in 1848, teaching school at St. Louis, when 
Di'. Whitman arrived tliere from Oregon. 

Says Dr. Atkinson, in an address (page 11) before the Oregon 
Pioneer and Historical Society in 1876 : 

A gentleman, Dr. William Barrows, then a teacher in 8t. Louis, now of 
Boston, and secretai-y of the Massachusetts Home Missionary .Society, and 
who saw him, clad in his bullalo and blanket robes, with frozen feet and 
hands, standing among the mountaineers, resisting their entreaties to stop 
and tell the story of his winter trip, and then hasten on to Washington, 
never forgot the impression of his energy, though tlien ignorant of its aim. 

Mr. Barrows boarded at the same hotel with Dr. Whitman, 
and learned more of his aim at subsequent interviews before the 
latter left St. Louis. 

In the New York Observer for December 21, 1882, Dr. Barrows 
tells of what he leal'iied. He says : 

It was my good fortune that he should be quartered at St. Louis as a guest 
under the same roof, and at the same table with myself. The announcement 
of his arrival in the little city of twenty thousand, as it was then, came as a 
surprise and a novelty. In those times it was a rare possibility for one to 



16 DID DH. M. WUri'MAN SAVKORKOON? 

romc up in mid winter iroin Hont's Fort or Santii Fr, much more from Fort 
Hall and Mic Columbia. Tlu- Koi-ky mountain men, trappers and traders, 
the advcntun-rs in New Mexico, and the contractors for our military posts, 
the Indian men laying up vast fortunes, half from the Kovernmont and 
half from the poor Indian, gathered ahont Dr. Whitman for fresh news from 
their places of interest. 

What aho\>t furs and peltries? How many hufl'alo robes would come down 
by June on the spriiig rise of the Missouri? Were Indian floods at the posts 
in flush, or I'jiir, or scant supply? * # * * -t * * 

But the doctor was in great haste, and could not delay to talk of bciaver 
and Indian goods, and wars, and reservations, and treaties. He had ques- 
tions and not answers. Was the Ashburton treaty concluded? Did it cover 
the northwest? Where and what and whose did it leave Oregon? He wa*> 
soon answered. Webster and Ashburton had signed that treaty on the 9th 
of August preceding. ************ 

Then instantly he had other questions for his St. Louis visitors. Was the 
Oregon question under discussion in Congress? What opinions, projects or 
hills concerning it were being urged in Senate and House? Would anything 
important be settled before the approaching ad.journment on the fourth of 
March? Could he reach Washington before the adjournment? He must 
leave at once, and he went. 

With all the warmth, and almost burden, of skin and fur clothing, he bore 
the marks of the irresistible cold and merciless storms of his journey. His 
fingers, ears, nose and feet had been frost-bitten, and were giving him much 
trouble. 

Dr. Whitman was in St. Louis, midway between Washington and Oregon, 
and carried business of weighty import, that must not be delayed by private 
interests and courtesies. In the wilds and stornis of the mountains he had 
fed on mules and dogs, yet now sumptuous and complimentary dinners 
had no attractions for him. He was happy to meet men of the army and of 
commerce and fur, but he must hasten on to see Daniel Webster. Exchang- 
ing saddle for stage— for the river was closed by ice— he pressed on, and 
arrived at Washington March 3d. 



(II.) HON. ALEXANDER RAMSEY. 

Having learned that Ctov. ilanisey, while on this coast in 1880, 
stated that he had met Dr. Whitman in Washington City in 
1843, the writer addressed a letter to him on the subject, and 
received the following reply : 



^^ ^.^. .,.,,v,.,, ) 

Salt Lake, City, Utah, V 



.Office of the Utah COiMMissioN, 
E, City, UtaL, 
[August 15, 1883, 



Rkv. M. Eells: 

Dear Sir— * * * j was first elected to Congress from Pennsylvania in 
October, 1842. P'or technical reasons the election went for nanght, and I was 
re-elected in 1848, and again in 1815, serving throughout the 28th and 20th 
congresses, from December, 184.S, to March, 1847. In the winter of 1842-).'? I 
visited Washington and called iipon Mr. .loshua Glddlngs, who wa*i at that 

time boarding at Mrs. on Capitol Hill, in what was then called DutT 

Green's Row. The building is still standing. When so visiting Mr. Glddlngs 
introduced me to Dr. Whitman, who talked to me and others of the difficul- 
ties of his journey, of the character of the country, Indian affairs, British 
encroachments, etc. * * * * « * ****** 



DID DR. M. WHITMAN SAVE OREGON? 17 

The time is very remote, and it is difficult for me to go more fully into the 
matter. Hon. Daniel R. Tilden and Hon. Columbus Delano, both of Ohio as 
members of Congress at the time, and both boarding at the snme home with 
Mr. Giddings, are still surviving, and may possibly recollect something of the 
matter. Tilden is at Cleveland and Delano at Mount Vernon. 

Very respectfully your obedient servant, 
(Signed) ALEX. RAMSEY. 

REMARKS ON THE FOREGOING EVIDENCE. 

There are some points in the foregoing evidence which are evi- 
dently mistakes, yet there are not enougli of them by any means, 
in tlie writer's opinion, to invalidate the whole. 

Mr. Spalding's and Mr. Gray's testimony need the most criti- 
cism. 

(A.) As to the toast and cheers at Fort Walla Walla, Mr. Spald- 
ing and Mr. Gray say that the news came that the Red river 
immigration was over the mountains— Mr. Gray says at Colville. 
But Mr. McKinley, then in charge, in a letter to Hon. Elwood 
Evans, says that that immigration came in 1841. 

To settle the matter the writer wrote to J.' Flett, H. Buxton 
and C. R. McKay, who came in that immigration, to know the 
year, and received the following replies : 

Lakeview, Pierce Co., W. T., Sept. 3, 1881. 
Rev. M. Eells : 

My Dear 8ir—l received yours of Aug. 9, 1882, yesterday. * * * You want 
to know.what year we came. * * * We left Red river Selkirk settlement 
on the 5th day of June, 1841; crossed the Rocky mountains on the 5th day of 
August over snow ; passed north Hell Gate; arrived Walla Walla, 5th day 
of October ; arrived 8th day of November at Fort Nesqually. There were 
eighteen families of us— three born on the road ; died. none. I know of but 
one living now of the married men, that is .James Burston and his wife in 
Washington county, Oregon. ^Irs. Spence is in Multnomah county, Oregon. 
Mrs. Caldrow and myself are in this county. * * * 

I remain very sincerely, 
(Signed,) * JOHN FLETT. 

(2.) ■ 

Forest Gkove, Oregon, Sept. 2, 1881. 
Rev. M. Eells, Skokomish : 

Dear ySir— Yours of the 7th inst. is at hand and contents noted. I came 
with my parents from the Red river settlement in 1811. We spent the first 
year on the Seund, near what was then Fort Nesqually. ******* 

There was an article of agreement signed by the emigrants of that coni- 
pany and the officers of the Hudson's Bay Company that was in the hands of 
my father for a long time, but I have not seen it for many years, and it is 
probably not now In existence. Yours truly, 

(Signed) HENRY BUXTON. 



18 J)1I) I)I{. M. WHITMAN SAVK OREGON? 

(3.) 

Gi.ENCOK, Washington CouNTr, Okegon, Aug. 21, 1881. 
DeauKik: 

I received your Utter in regarcl to the emigration from Red river. We left 
Ued river tlie lil'teentli dI' .June, ISIl. We were one day's travel tliis side of 
Spoliune river tlie t\venty-s(>eond of ,Septeiiil)er, wliere my sister was born. 
There are only (wo men alive tliat liad famiiies when we came through- 
James Uurston, living in Washington county, and .lolm Flett. ' ~' <• My 
mother is still living. Yours respectfully, 

(Signed) CIIAHLES H. McKAY. 

These letters settle the (lucstioii that tin- inimigration arrived 
in 1841. It is also certain tliat they never went to ("olville. 

Moreover, Mr. Spalding's journal of Ironi September 1-23, 
1841, gives an account of a journey by himself and family to 
Fort Colville. Under date of Sept. 10, 1841, he says: 

Arrived at t'olville. Mr. McDonald's brother is here from a party of twen- 
ty-three families from the Red river, crossing the mountains to settle on the 
Cowlitz, as half servants of the company. They started with oxen and carts. 
The carts are left and they are packing their oxen. There arc in all eighty 
persons [probably counting children]. TJie man returns to-morrow with 
provisions. 

Exactly what did occur at Fort Walla Walla is a question. 
The following letter from Dr. Geiger gives his opinion: 

Forest Grove, Oiiegon, Oct. 17, 1881. 
Rev. M. Eells: 

Dear jS'tr— Your letter just received asking about the taunt to Dr. Whitman. 
I think there is a misconception in tlie matter. I>r. Wliitman had got in- 
formation of Mr. Lovejoj- and others of the immigration of 1S42, tliat the 
United States was about to exchange tliis country (or the Newfoundland 
banks fisheries, or a share in tliem, tlir<ti<<)h the representations of the Jliulxon's 
Hay Gompany, that the whole country was a barren urixte. Rut tlie doctor, 
knowing the value of this country (Pacific coast), went to Fort Walla Walla 
to find out about it (the proposed trade), and was informed that that was the 
expectation. (As witness the Red river emigration.) He, Dr. Whitman, de- 
termined to check the transaction, if possible. '■■• I think the special 
year of this emigration had nothing more to do with the matter than here 
represented. I can not call to mind any otlier features of tlie transaction 
from any or all of my conversations or writings with Dr. Wliitman. But 
this condition I had so burned into my memory tliat I can not forget it. 
Hoping these few lines will explain to your satisfaction, I am as ever. 

Yours sincerely, 
(Signed) WILLIAM GEIGER, Jr., M. D. 

Mr. P. B. Whitman gives another exj^lanation, that another 
emigration was to come the next year, of sixty families, to settle 
in the Yakima valley. 

(B.) Mr. Spalding and Mr. Gray give this occurrence at Walla 
Walla as the jnumal cause for the starting of Dr. Whitman, while 



DID DR. M. WHITMAN SAVE OREGON? 19 

Mr. Eells says that his going was determined upon before, but 
allows a (fiance for this occurrence. Probably whatever occurred 
there made him more earnest to hasten the journey. 

(C.) Messrs. 8palding, Gray and Whitman say he went to Fort 
Walla Walla on a sick call; Dr. Geiger, that he w^ent to learn 
about the intentions of the English government. The writer 
can not see why both may not have been true. 

(D.) Mr. Spalding refers to Mr. Applegate as one who was 
induced by Dr. Whitman to come to this country. This is a mis- 
take, as hereafter a letter will be given from Mr. Applegate 
denying this. 

(E.) Mr. Spalding says that the intention was to put the Ore- 
gon question into the Ashburtoii treaty. This is a mistake, as 
that treaty had been signed six months previous to Dr. Whit- 
man's arrival at Washington. 

Messrs. Spalding, Whitman and Gray testify that while at 
Walla Walla, Dr. Whitman said he would go for an immigration 
and to save the country. But Dr. Geiger says he kept quiet 
about this object of his journey, and Mrs. Walker tells why they 
kejit quiet afterwards. 

Perhaps both may have been true. At first, under a little ex- 
citement, he may have said something, but afterwards been more 
guarded on this point, and said more about missionary business. 

Yet these very variations in the testimony show that there has 
been no agreement among the witnesses to get up a scheme to 
glorify Dr. Whitman. In fact some of them knew nothing of 
what others had said. Dr. Geiger, when he gave his testimony, 
knew nothing, he said, of what Mr. Hinman, Dr. S. J. Parker or 
Dr. Barrows had said, and the same is true of other witnesses. 

Yet, notwithstanding these mistakes and discrepancies, four 
points remain proved, unless we reject the testimony of these 
persons, most of whom were Dr. Whitman's intimate associates. 

1st. Dr. Whitman's main intent in that journey was to save 
the country. 

Says Hon. Elwood Evans, in the Seattle Intelligencer of April 

30th, 1881, after discussing the question at length : 

Therefore, it seems manifest tliat there was such a condition of affairs in 
the Oregon mission as to urge his imniediate going, and tliat such was the 
cause, and the only cause, of his proceeding to Boston on business of the 
mission, and that no motive existed for nor did he start to Washington City 
on political business. 



20 DID DH. M. WHITMAN SAVK OKhXiON? 

A similar statement is made by the same writer in tlie JS^orth 
Pacific Coast for Aj^ril 1st, 1880. 

Mrs. V. F. Vietor says also, in The Ca/ifoniiati for Sejitember, 

1880: 

There still roinains the romantic, though unfortunately foundationless, 
story of Dr. Whitinan".s visit to Washington with a political purpose. 

Yet tlie first ten of tlie witnesses, as liere (juoted, and who 
talked with Dr. Whitman, say that this was his main object. 

2d. £>)•. Whitman irent to Washington City. 

Says Hon. E. Evans, in a letter to tlie writer dated March 
14, 1881: 

There is no authenticated evidence that Dr. Whitman visited Washington 
City at all during that Journey. 

Says Mrs. F. F. Vietor, page 9, of "Did Dr. Whitman Save 
Oregon?" quoted from Daily Antorian: 

There is no proof anywhere that he [Dr. Whitman] went to Washington, 
though it is probable enough, as all Americans having been in Oregon were 
welcomed by the government as means of information. 

But nearly all of the witnesses state that he said he went there, 
while Gov. Ramsey's evidence must settle that point. 

3d. Dr. Whitman di*d do good political work for Oregon at 
Washington. •> 

Says Hon. E. Evans, in a letter to the writer dated March 
14, 1881 : 

I am satisfied that it [Dr. Whitman's winter journey] had nothing what- 
ever to do w-Jth the settlement of the Oregon boundary ; had no ellect what- 
ever, direct or indirect, upon the negotiations between the two countries as to 
the territory. 

Says Mrs. F. F. Victor, in a letter to the writer dated April 
3, 1883 : 

The patriotic and pleasing account given in Gray's History was a fiction 
of his lively imagination. 

But Dr. Geiger, as well as Mr. Spalding and Mr. (iray, say that 
he did, while Messrs. P. B. Whitman, Parker and Lovejoy hint 
very strongly of the same. 



DID DR. M. WUITM,VN SAVE OREGON? 21 

It is not necessary to Itelieve that an oflioial treaty was then 
nnder consideration, but only that informal action was being 
taken by Mr. Webster with prominent i)ersons belonging to 
Great Britain, which would virtually commit them when the 
subject should come uj) in ivn official way. 

OBJECTIONS. 

Objection 1. These statements were all made of late years. 
Mrs. Victor says in the Asforian : 

I do not pretend to .say what was the object of Mr. Gray in adopting the 
Action, which he lias imposed upon tlie world as history. But this I do say, 
and can substantiate it, that until Mr. Gray, about 180G, set the story afloat, 
nobody had ever heard of it. 

Dr. Geiger's statement gives one reason why it was not imme- 
diately published — because it would arouse the enmity of the 
Hudson's Bay Company. Mrs. Walker gives another reason —for 
fear it would bring disgrace on the mission. 

Still it was given earlier than Mrs. Victor is willing to allow. 
The writer can remember hearing of it between 1857 and 1862. 
Mr. Spalding published it in the Pacific in 1864. 

Rev. C. Eells published it in the Missionary/ Herald in Decem- 
ber, 1866, and Mr. Treat, one of the secretaries of the A. B. C. F. 
M., made great use of it almost as soon as it was obtained from 
Mr. Eells, and it was copied into many prominent eastern impers. 
Mr. Eells then said, in the hearing of the writer, to his wife, sub- 
stantially as follows : "See what a great man like Mr. Treat can 
do with such a fact. The world is greatly aroused by it, while we 
less noted ones have been trying to say the same thing for years, 
but the world does not get hold of it until a great man makes it 
public." 

Objection 2. This statement impugns the patriotism of Secre- 
tary Webster. Hon. El wood Evans says, in a letter to the writer, 
dated May 10, 1882, about this theory, " which I regard as unju.st 
to the memory of Daniel Webster." * * * "The iwlicy seems 
unwise and wrong, to attempt to build the reputation of Dr. 
Whitman upon impugning the patriotism of others." 

But the patriotism of Mr. Webster is not impugned; only his 
knowledge, which such men as Dr. Whitman set right. No man, 
not even Mr. Webster, could know everything, without gaining 
information from others. Mr. Dayton's, Archer's or Choate's 



22 nil) DIJ. M. WHITMAN SAVE OUKGOX ? 

patriotism is lutt iiupu^nt'd liy tlu'ir siurflu'son the Orciion (jues- 
tion — only tlu-ir kiiowk'd^c 

Objection 8. Tlu-iv is noevidonrt' tosiiow, which can hv found 
at Wasliinf^ton, or any wliere, althougii search has hccn made for 
it, that Webster ever had any idea of trading off this country, or 
a part of it, for the codfishery of Newfouiidhind. Moreover, Mr. 
Wel)ster said in a speech in tlie V. S. Senate : " The government 
of the Tnited States has never oftered any line soutli of 49° (with 
the navigation of the Columbia) and it never will." Works of 
D. Webster, vol. 5, p. 78. 

In a letter from Rev. J. (i. Craighead to the writer, dated May 
10, 1883, he says : "What you say about negotiations between 
intluential persons is laughed at by the State Department, as not 
l)ossible, and absurd on tlie very face of it. Mr. Hunter, then in 
State I)ei)artment, and for nearly a generation cliief clerk, takes 
no stock whatever in tlie big claim fi>r Dr. Whitman." 

It is true that no records have l)een found wiiich state that Mr. 
Webster had mucli, if any, idea of selling to the British Govern- 
ment any of the country soutli of 4!)°, yet there is some circum- 
stantial evidence which ijoints that way. 

In the United States Senate, in 1844, a resolution was offered to 
give the necessary twelve months' notice to Great Britain, for the 
termination of the treaty which granted joint occupancy to both 
nations. All the senators claimed our rights as good as far north 
as 49°, and yet for various reasons a majority opposed the motion 
— some for fear it would involve us in war, some for fear that it 
would have a bad effect on the negotiations which it was said 
would soon be made, and fo?- which preliminary arrangements 
ivere in progrcm, some because of the worthlessness of the coun- 
try, and some because they wanted no more territory. 

In regard to these latter points, Mr. Dayton, of New Jersey, 
said (February 23, and 26, 1844, Congressional Olobe, p. 27o, etc.), 
as he (juoted a descrii)tion of the country from the Christian Ad- 
vocate of February Ttli : 

With the exception of the huicl along the WiUaiuette and strips along a 
few of the water courses, the whole country is among the most irreclaimable 
barren wastes of which we have read, except the desert of Sahara. Nor is 
this the worst of it. The climate is so unfriendly to human life that the 
native pojiulation has dwindled away under the ravages of its malaria to a 
degree which defies all history to furnish a parallel in so wide a range of 
country. 



DID DR. M. WHITMAN SAVE OREGON? 23 

He also read from the Louisville Journal, as republished in the 
National lutclUgcnoer of Washington : 

"Of all the countries on the face of this earth, it (Oregon) is one of the least 
favored by heaven. It is the mere riddllngs of creation. It is almost as bar- 
ren as the desert of Africa, and ([Uite as unhealthy as the Campania of Italy. 
Now that such a territory should excite the hopes and cupidity of citizens of 
the United States, inducing them to leave comfortable homes for its heaps of 
sands, is, indeed, passing strange. 

" Russia has her Siberia, and England has her Botany Bay, and if the 
United States should ever need a country to which to banish its rogues and 
scoundrels, the utility of such a region as Oregon would be demonstrated. 
Until then we are perfectly willing to leave this magnificent country to the 
Indians, trappers and buffaloes, that roam over its sand banks and by the 
sides of its rushing and unnavigable rivers." 

I confess these descriptions are somewhat below my estimate. I had 
thought it a poor country as a whole, but not quite so poor as these authentic 
accounts would make it. Yet thes^ accounts are substantially correct as 
applied to the country as a whole, though I have no doubt there are some 
green spots, some strips along the streams, which may be good and even per- 
haps rich for agricultural purposes, and it is to these spots that the glowing 
descriptions have been applied. * * * * * Judging from all sources of 
authentic information to which I have had access, I should think the terri- 
tory, taken togethei', a very poor region for agricultural purposes, and in that 
respect unworthy of consideration or contest at the hands of this govern- 
ment. 

How will the speedy settlement of Oregon affect us? In my judgment it 
must be injuriously. * * * The admission of Oregon as a state of this 
Union seems to me as undesirable on the one hand as it is improbable on the 
other— undesirable, because, by the aid of the representative principle, we 
have already spread ourselves to a vast and almost unwieldy extent. I have 
no faith in the unlimited extension of this government by the aid of that 
principle. * * We have already conflicting interests more than enough, and 
God forbid that the time should ever come when a state on the banks of the 
Pacific, with its interests and tendencies of trade all looking toward the 
Asiatic nations of the East, shall add its jarring claims to our already dis- 
tracted and overburdened confederacy. 

But it is not only in my judgment undesirable, but improbable. Distance 
and the character of intervening country are natural obstacles forbidding 
the idea. By water, the distance around Cape Horn is said to be about 18,000 
miles. By land, the distance by the only line of travel is about Ave thousand 
miles from this spot to Vancouver, in the valley of the Willamette. We are 
much nearer to the remote nations of Europe than to Oregon. And when 
considered with reference to the facilities of communication, Europe is in 
comparison our next door neighbor. And this state of things must continue 
unless some new agent of communication shall cast up. The power of steam 
has been suggested. Talk of steam communication— a railroad to the mouth 
of the Columbia, Why look at the cost and bankrupt condition of railroads 
proceeding almost from your capital, traversing your great thoroughfares. 
A railroad across twenty-five hundred miles of prairie, of desert and of 
mountains. The smoke of an engine across those terrible fissures of that 
rocky ledge, where the smoke of a volcano only has rolled before ! Who is 
to make this vast internal or rather external improvement? The State of 
Oregonortho United States? Whence is to come the power? Who supply 
the means? The mines of Mexico and Peru disembowelled would scarcely 
pay a penny in the pound of the cost. Nothing short of the lamp of Aladdin 



24 DID DU. M. WinT>rAX SAVE OREOON? 

will siillicc lor such an (>x])ciulituri'. The oxtravuKanco ol' llio suggestion 
seems to me to outrun everything which we know of modern visionary 
scheming. The South Sea bubble, the Dutchman's speculation, the tulip 
roots, our own in the town lots and multicaulis, are all common-place plod- 
ding in conipai'ison. lUit all the suggestion seems to me properly part and 
parcel ol' this great Inflated whole. 

This connection being out of the (juestioii, Mr. Dayton jyro- 
ceeded to discuss the (juestion if it might not be a colony, similar 
to the British colonies, and of this idea he made as much sport as 
he did of the railroad. 

Other senators said that if we obtained Oregon we could not 
hold it, as it would set up itself as an indei)endent nation after a 
time. 

Mr. Archer, after describing the difficulties in getting to the 
Willamette, and the worthlessness of the intervening region, 
said : 

These led to the third and last tract ot valley on the seaboard of the Pacific, 
suited for an Asiatic (not an American) dependency, if it were to lie regarded 
of value as a dependency at all. This was destitute of harborage and could 
never command any by art. The country taken in its whole extent could 
at no day certainly have a very large production, nor any considerable trade. 

Mr. Breese, of Illinois, on the other hand, rei)lied to these state- 
ments. Mr. Choate, of Massachusetts, had hinted at " equiva- 
lents for Oregon." Mr. Breese did not know what was meant, 
unless money, or as the senator from Rhode Island had, in 1827, 
ofiered a resolution, asking the President to open a negotiation 
with Great Britain to exchange the right, title and interest of the 
United Htates to the territory west of the Rocky mountains for 
Upper Canada, so something of the same kind might now be 
meant. He also said considerable in rejily to certain j^arties who 
had been opposed to enlarging our territory west, ever since the 
Louisiana purchase. 

Mr. Breese said : A proposition having once been made to cede Oregon for 
Canada, I liave tlie most fearful misgivings it may be repeated, unless ar- 
rested by the prompt and decisive action of the Senate. We have need, sir, 
to be alarmed at this fact before our eyes, at every suggestion of a negotiation 
in wliicli an exchange for an "e<iuivulent ' like that is to be t lie subject for 
our conference. 

The motion to give the requisite notice was finally lost, by a 
vote of 28 to 18, every whig and three democrats voting against it. 
Mr. Webster at this time was not in the Senate, but he was a 
whig, and Mr. Choate, from ]Mr. Webster's state, was the one 
wlio sjioke about exchanging "equivalents" for Oregon. 



DID DR. M. WHITMAN SAVE OREGON? 25 

Moreover, two years later, April 6th and 7th, 1840, when the 
value of Oregon was tar better known, Mr. Webster said in the 
Senate, while defending his part in the Ashburton treaty of 1842, 
whieh settled the northwestern boundary : 

Now, what is this river St. John ? We have heard a vast deal lately of the 
value and importance of the river Columbia and its navigation; but I will 
undertake to say that for all purposes of human use the St. John is worth a 
hundred times as much as the Columbia is or ever will be. In point of mag- 
nitude it is one of the most respectable rivers on the eastern side of America. 
—(Webster's Speeches, vol. 5, p. 102.) 

Still further, the New York Indei^endent, for January, 1870, 
said : 

A personal friend of Mr. Webster, a legal gentleman, and with whom he 
conversed on the subject several times, remarked to the writer of this arti- 
cle: " It is safe to assert that our country owes it to Dr. Whitman and his 
associate missionaries that all the territory west of the Rocky mountains 
and south as far as the Columbia river, is not now owned by England and 
held by the Hudson's Bay Company." 

Thus, when we remember the position of the whigs in the 
Senate, Mr. Choate's i)roposition for an equivalent for Oregon, 
Mr. Webster's remarks about the Columbia two years later, and 
what he said to his friend about Dr. Whitman, we find circum- 
stantial evidence strong to believe Mr. Webster was willing to 
tradeoff Oregon, and that Dr. Whitman helped largely to save it. 



II. 

What Did Dr, Whitman Do to Promote the 
Immigration of 1843? 



Says Dr. Geiger : 

He [Dr. Whitman whou at Washington] immediately sent baclc word to 
Missouri, to those ulio wislied to go, and liad it publislied in papers and in a 
pampiilet. 

Says Rev. H. H. Spalding: 

On reaching the settlements Dr. Whitman found tliat many of the now 
old oregonians— Waldo, Applegute fa mistake], Hamtree, Keyser, and others 
— who onee made calculation to come to Oregon, had abandoned the idea, 
because it was reported from Washington, that every attempt to take wagons 
and ox teams through tlie Kocky and Blue mountains to the Columbia had 
failed. * * * The Doctor told these men, as he met them, that his only 
object in crossing the mountains in the dead of winter, at the risk of his 
life, through untold sufferings, was to take back an American immigration 
that summer, through the mountains to the Columbia, with their wagons 
and teams. The route was practicable. -^^ * * This news spread like wild- 
fire through Missouri. 

Mr. P. B. Whitman says: 

Dr. Whitman's trip east, in the winter of 1842-4;i, was for the double pur- 
pose of bringing an immigration across the plains, also to prevent, if possi- 
ble, the trading oft" this northwest coast to the British government. 

Dr. S. J. Parker, sou of Rev. Samuel Parker, in speaking of 
Dr. Whitman's two visits to his father, in 1843, both before going 
to Washington and after, says : 

At both times the subject of emigration was talked of. Dr. Whitman .said 
many in Illinois and Missouri, etc., were ready to go and would go in the 
spring, as soon as the grass grew. 

On the other hand, says Hon. E. P^vans, in tlie Seattle Intelli- 
gencer, of April 30, 1881 : 

Dr. Whitman had nothing whatever to do with organizing or promoting 
the migration of 1843. He performed valuable services while he travelled 
with it. 

Mrs. Victor, in tlie Antorian, makes similar statements. 



DID DR. M. WHITMAN &AVK OREGON? 27 

In order to settle this (question, if possible, the writer sent letters 
to all the ininiigi'ants of 1843, whose address he could learn, in 
order to ascertain whether or not Dr. Whitman did anything to 
induce them to come. In other ways he has learned the same 
from a few others, so that herewith is given the reason which led 
fourteen men or families to come : 

(I.) HON. L. APPLEGATE. 

Ashland, t)Kp:(;oN, Februaiw — , 1883. 
Dkak Sir:— Received your note of inquiry in regard to getting up the 
emigration of '43. The first niovement tliat I know of in getting up that 
emigration is as follows: There was a man by the name of Robert Shortess, 
who made liis liome with me in Missouri, who crossed the plains in '38 or '39 
with tlie trappers, who wrote letters back to me and brother Jesse, giving a 
fine description of tlie country, a man well known to the early settlers of 
Oregt)n. Our living in a vi-ry sickly climate and tlie severity of the winters, 
induced us to make au ettbrt to reach Oregon. ,So, about the first of March, 
184;^, I put a notice in the Booneville Herald (a paper published in Missouri), 
that there would be au effort to get up an emigration to Oregon. About the 
same time there was an effort in the north part of the State, and about the 
first of May we met on the btn-der of the State and organized for Oregon. 
When we reached the North Platte, or somewhere in the Black Hills, Dr. 
Wliitman and liis nephew overtook us, travelling in a small vehicle. Up to 
this time I never had heard the name of Dr. Whitman^did not know there 
was such a man living. The Doctor rendered us a good deal of service, being 
a man of energy, and we lielped him some, by hauling provisions that fed 
him and others, for nothing. I think every living emigrant of '43 will bear 
me out in these statements. * "^ * * Starting witli us, as neighbors and 
from the same section of country, were us three brothers, Daniel Waldo, 
Leery, Naylor, John Ford, Kiser, Panther, and families, and a number of 
others whose names I can not recall to mind now. 

Yours truly. 
(Signed) LINDSAY APPLEGATE. 

(2.) HON. JESSE APPLEGATE, 

Clkar Lake, Modoc County, Cal., February 19th, 'S3. 
Dear Sir:— Your note reached me to-day. 1st.— Nothing Dr. Whitman said 
or wrote induced me to come to Oregon. 2nd.— I first saw Dr. Whitman in 
June, 1843, on the Platte river. 3rd.— I know of no person, living oi'dead, he 
induced to come to Oregon. Yours, 

(Signed) JESSE APPLEGATE. 

(3.) MR. A. HILL, of Gaston, Washington County, Oregon. 

The Weekli/ JVru's (Portland) of May 17, 1883, has the following: 

In 1842 Mr. Hill, then being the head of a young family, had his attention 
drawn to the far west by the bill granting a donation land claim to settlers, 
introduced into Congress by Senator Linn, of Missouri, but which did not be- 
come a law until 1850. At that time Mr. Hill lived in Bates county, Missouri. 
* * * Later in the year of '42 his young blood was stirred by reading a 
letter Irom Robert Shortess to Jesse Applegate, descriptive of Oregon. The 
desire to come west and possess himself of a generous piece of land, upon 



/ 



-'S DID DK. M. WHITMAN SAVK ORPXJON? 

which lio could hiiilil ii lioiiie, never lel'l him, so tliat in I-\'l)rimi'.v, 1H1:{, wlien 
Kan. Waiilo, iate of Marion county, sent wtu'd inviting liini to go to Oregon, 
and oll'erin;c to lurnisli liini a team, lie ininiediately bacl<ed his horse and 
started to see Waldo. ******** 

ITiTi' (bllows a (loscription of an iiitorviow hotwccii Mr. Hill 
and Ai)i)U',nato on the sulijoct. 

The result was that after two months Mr. Hill, .les.sc Applcgate, his two 
brotluM-s, Lindsay and Charles, and Dan. Waldo, who lived a few miles away, 
were all ready to start, and made the lirst day's journey on the 12th of May, 

lf(|;{_ *********** 

Dr, Whitman, of the Whitman Mission, overtook the train on tlie .South 
Platte. ITp to this time Mr. Hill had never heard of Dr. Whitman, and did 
not Iviiow of sucli a station as tlie one on the Walla Walla river. * * * 
Mr. Hill is rlrmly of the opinion that the agitation in (,'ongress by Senator 
Linn, * * * was the starting cause of the emigration from Missouri in 
LSI."!, and that Dr. Whitman was not known to those people till he overtook 
them on Platte river, though after that the doctor's services as guide were 
very valuable. 

(4.) MR. MATHENY. 

Rev. C. Eells, in a letter to the writer dated March 11, 1882, 
say.s : 

Mr. Matheny, residing at Wawawai on Snake river, said to me that his 
company were far out on the plains before they saw, or (and I think he said) 
heard of Dr. Whitman. At first, Mr. M.'s party were evidently far in ad- 
vance, but subseciucntly they all combined. 

(5.) W. J. DOUGHERTY, of Lake View, Pierce County, Wash. Ter. 

Mr. Dougherty said to the writer, February 14, 1883, that he 
first knew of Dr. Whitman near Fitzhugh's mill, at a meeting 
held bj' the emigration. 

(6.) MR. S. M. GILMORE. 

HoCKLAND, Wash. Teu., INIarch 7, 188;5. 
Rkv. M. Eei.i.s, Skokomish: 

.S'/r— Yours of .January l^th is received. * * * After I had resolved to 
come to (.)regon I learned that Dr. Whitman was intending to return to Ore- 
gon— would Jje of great assistance to the emigrants. As to how many he in- 
tluenced, I know not, but I am sure he caused many to come that otherwise 
would not have come, if they had not learned that he would be with them, 
and that he could be of great assistance on the journey. I Hrst saw Dr. Whit- 
man at our rendezvous on the Missouri border, while we were organizing 
preparatory to start. * * * * * * * * 

Yours, etc., 
(Signed) S. M. GILMORE. 

(7.) HON. J. W. NESMITH. 

Dixie Station, Polk County, Oregon, Jan. 22, 1883. 
Rev. M. Eells : 
My Dear Sir— * * *■ in answer to your first question, "Where did j'ou 



DID DR. M. WHITMAN SAVE OKEUON? 29 

first see Dr. Whitman ?" I am not able to reply as deflnitely a.s I could wish 
to do, but will give you the best of my recollections. Our party of immi- 
grants assembled at a point near Fitzhugh's Mill, a few miles west of Inde- 
pendence, Missouri, on the 20th of May, 1843, for the purpose of organizing 
I will not be certain whether it was at that meeting or a day or two after, on 
the line of march, that I first met the Doctor. I had never seen or heard of 
him before, consequently nothing that he said or wrote had any influence in 
inducing me to come to Oregon. In fact, I had started from Iowa in 1812, to 
come to Oregon with Dr. White's party of that year, but I arrived at Inde- 
pendence seventeen days after Dr. White's party had left, and as the Pawnee 
Indians were hostile, I did not dare venturing alone to overtake the party, 
and remained at Fort Scott, 110 miles south of Independence, in the then 
Kansas territory, until the party of 1813 rendezvoused, as above stated. 

I know of no person who was induced to come to Oregon in consequence 
of Dr. Whitman's representations, and I think that the rest of the immigra- 
tion were as ignorant of Dr. Whitman, his speaMng and writing, as I was. * 
I am, respectfully, your obedient servant, 
(Higned) J. W. NESMITH. 

(8.) MR. JOHN B. McCLANE. 

SAI.EM, February 27, 1883. 
Rev. M. Eells : 

iSm-.— In answer to your first question: I think he [Dr. Whitman] overtook 
us on the North Platte. I am not sure as to that. * * * i never heard of 
him until he overtook us on the plains. * * * There were a number that 
were influenced to come by him, but I could not state their names at this 
time. ***** 

(Signed) JOHN B. McCLANE. 

(g.) MR. J. G. BAKER. 

McMiNNViLLE, Oregon, August 12, 1883. 
Rev. M. Eells: 

Sir :— In regard to Dr. Whitman, I will say that I did not know that Dr. 
Whitman was in the States until he overtook us. Where he overtook us I 
can not now say, but it was sometime after we started. Wc had Captain 
Gantt for our pilot when Dr. Whitman overtook us ; we then got Dr. Whit- 
man for our pilot. Dr. Whitman was a man of great energy and persever- 
ance, and of great service to us. Yours, 

(Signed) J. G. BAKER. 



(10.) HON. J. M. SHIVELY. 

Astoria, Oregon, July II, 1883. 
Friend Eells: 

I first saw Dr. Whitman on the plains in 1843. I never heard of him or his 
mission to Washington previous to this. Friends in St. Louis sent me a 
package by him. In November, 1842, 1 was the first to get up the excitement 
on the Oregon question, and after many meetings, went to Washington with 
a petition to Congress then in session. If Dr. Whitman was then in Wash- 
ington I did not see nor hear of him. 

I never heard any one say they ever knew Dr. Whitman till they met him 
on the plains. Yours respectfully, 

(Signed) J. M. SHIVELY. 



30 DID DK. M WIUTMAN SAVK OREGON? 

(II.) MR. WILLIAM WALDO. 

Sai.k.m, OuKtJON, January 21, 1K83. 
Hk.v. .M. Kk.i.i.s: 

Dear .fir .—Your lottiT ol tli.' IMh iust. lui.s Just been received, and In an- 
swer * * * I liave to say. Iliut I'r. \Vhltn\an was in some of tlio Kastern 
stairs in tlie winter of 1.SI2 and ;f, and wrote several newspai»er articles in 
relation toOrcKon, and nartieiiiarly in regard to the liettlth ol the country. 
Tliise letters derided my father to move to this country, as he had already 
determined to leave Mi.s.souri. * * * I flrst .saw him on the Hif; Hiue river. 
* * * I was then ahout ten years of age, but I remember him very distinctly, 
for the reason that he was a very remarkable man in many respects. * * * 

Yours very truly, 
(Signed) WM. WALDO. 

{12.) MRS. C. B. GARY. 

Lafayettk, Okegon, January 2:?, 1883. 
Rev. M. Eei.l.s: 

Y'our letter was received, and in reply to your questions I will say. it was 
a pamphlet Dr. Whitman wrote that induced me to come to Oregon. Met 
him first on the plains. * * * * 

Respectfully, 
(Signed) Mks. C. B. CARY. 

(13.) MR. JOHN ZACHREY. 

In a letter to Rev. H. H. Sinilding, dated Fel»ruary 7, 1S6S, he 
says : 

Dear Sir:— In answer to your inquiries I would say, that my father and 
his family emigrated to Oregon in 1843, from the State of Texas. I was then 
17 years old. The occasion of my father starting that season for tliis country, 
•AH i\\so several nf our nei(/hbors, VfiXi^ n pul)lit-ation by Dr. Whitman, or from 
his representations concerning Oregon, and the route from the States to Ore- 
gon. In the pamphlet the Doctor described Oregon, the soil, climate and its 
desirableness for American colonies, and said he had crossed the Rock.v 
mountains that winter, principally to take back that season a train of wag- 
ons to Oregon. We had been told that w-agons could not betaken beyond 
Fort Hall; but in this pamphlet the Doctor assured his countrymen that 
wagons could be taken from Fort Hall to the Columbia river, and to Tlie 
Dalles, and from thence by boats to the Willamette; that himself and mis- 
sion party had taken their families, cattle and wagons through to the Colum- 
bia six years before. It was this assurance of the missionary that induced 
my father and several of his neighbors to sell out and start at once for this 
country. ********* 

(Signed) JOHN ZACHREY'. 

—(Spalding's Congressional pamphlet, p. 26.) 

(14.) HON. JOHN HOBSON. 

Astoria, January 30, 188.3. 
Rev. M. Fells: 

Dear Sir:— * * * My father's family came to St. Louis in March, 1S4.S, 
from P-ngland, on our way to Wisconsin, but on account of snow and ice in 
the river we could not proceed, and while detained there we met the Doctor 



DID DF. M. WHITMAN SAVE OKKGON? 31 

[Whitman] and several others, who were talking of coming to Oregon; so, 
hy his description of tlie country, and protl'ered assistance in getting here 
free of charge, my father with family, and Miles Eyers and family, Messrs. 
Thomas Smith, a Mr. Kicord, and J. M. Shively, all agreed to come. All 
came. Mr. Eyers was drowned in Snake river, while crossing above Boise. 
Thomas Smith went to California in 1847. Mr. Kicord went to the Sandwich 
Islands and never returned. J. M. Shively resides in Astoria, when at home, 
but is now in California for his health. The Doctor assisted Eyers and father 
in purchasing wagons and mules in St. Louis. We went to Westport, 
through the State of INIissouri, to the rendezvous, and the rest went by river. 
I do not know whether the Doctor was going to or on the return from Wash- 
ington, but we did not see him any more until we met him at the Indian 
mission, a few miles from Westport, in the early part of May, where he 
assisted us in getting more teams and horses. 

Yours, 
(Signed) JOHN HOBSON. 

P. S.— All the Hobsons that crossed in '43 are dead, but my youngest sis- 
ter and myself. I was eighteen years old when I came. 

REMARKS. 

(1.) It is plain, from the evidence, that Dr. Whitman did not 
influence all the emigrants to come, but that other causes were at 
work— such as Senator Linn's bill, Mr. 8hortess' letter, and Mr. 
Shively's work. 

(2.) It is also plain, however, that he did work to induce peo- 
ple to come, by personal talk, newspaper articles and a pamphlet, 
which reached even to Texas. 

(3.) It it also plain that he induced some to come; four of the 
fourteen witnesses heard from — nearly one-third — stating that 
they came because of his representations, while two of them 
speak of several others whom he induced to come. 

(4. ) The statements of different persons that they first saw him 
at different places may, perhaps, be reconciled by the idea that 
different jmrties started at different times, hence, that the earlier 
ones did not see him as soon as the later ones. 

"It is forty years, to this very year, 
Since the first bold wagon train. 
With man's deep vow and woman's tear. 
Struggled across the plain. 
, Brave Whitman piloted the way, 
As on four months they pressed, 
They pass the plains with summer day, 
With autumn gain the west." 
— [S. A. Clarke, in Willamette Farmer, 1883. 



Since writing the above I have found a letter, written in 1849, 



32 l)ll> DK. M. WHITMAN SAVK OKKtJON? 

liy l{ev. 11. K. W. rcikius, of tlio Methodist mission, to Miss 
Jane Prentiss, a sister of Mrs. Whitman, which shows strongly 
tiie tendency of Dr. Wliitman's ideas, and from which the fol- 
lowinj; extracts are given. Mr. Perltins was stationed at The 
Dalles, and left the country in 1844. ^Irs. Whitman si)ent the 
winter of 1842-3 at the station, in the families of Messrs. Perkins, 
D. Lee and Brewer, while Dr. Whitman wa.s in the East; hence, 
Mr. Perkins had a good o))i)ortunity, through INIrs. AVhitman, of 
learning Dr. Whitman's ideas, and all Mr. Perkin's opinions 
were formed about the same time, as he had no personal inter- 
course with them after 1844, although the letter was not written 
for five years afterwards. It was written in reply to some ques- 
tions of Miss Prentiss, after the death ol her sister : 

He [Dr. Whitman) looked upon them [the Indians] as doomed, at no dis- 
tant day, to Kive jilace t(j a settlement of enterprisinjr Americans. With an 
eye to this, he laid liis plans and acted. His American feelings, even while 
engaged in his missionary toils, were * * * suflercd to predominate. * * 
* * He wanted to see the country settled. * * * Where were scattered 
a few Indian huts he wanted to see thrifty farm houses. Where stalked 
abroad a few broken-down Indian horses, cropping the rich grasses of the 
surrounding i)lain, he wanted to see grazing the cow, the ox and the sheep 
of a happy Yankee community. With his eye bent on this, he was willing, 
meantime, to do what he could * * * for the poor, weak, feeble, doomed 
Oregonians. 



APPENDIX. 

piess, will explain some things heretofore hin-ed at. The first 
was written by Dr. Whitman at the Shawnee mission, nea. 
Westport, May 28, 1843, to Mr. J. G. Prentiss, his brother-li-law. 
xic Sfiys ■ 

You will be surprised to le arn that I am here yet I have heon .« u 
waiting for three weeks. i4*»eEj^H?'te»InirT r Jr ^ , ' '' ^'"'^^ 
I went to Quincy, [IIl.]>(^aSyM|t A^S^ "" ^ ^""^ "™^ ^"'* «" 

sheep, are l„dl.p™,,Memoreg™ . - . ff »•'''''*.'": """"""'""^ 
^®'^'"*'^) MARCUS WHITMAN. 

This letter shows that Dr. Whitman first came to St. Louis 
then went back to Illinois and there waited some time for th^ 
emigrants; that the emigrants started along at different times- 
he was working for his friends to emigrate to Oregon; that he' 
had said something about emigrants going there when he first 
passed through, as he was misunderstood about sheep ; and that 
he was working with Government, especially the Secretary of 

jlr^t'sheep '^""' ^"'' '' "'' ''"'' '' '^•^"^ "P '''''''' "^^ ^"^- 
The other letter is written by Mr. J. G. Prentiss, as follows : 



34 AIM'KNDIX. 

Ai.MOND, [Nkw York], November 18, 1883. 
llKV. M. Kells: 

«««*»:* If I could see and (<alk to you of what the Doctor said to 
me on the subject of his trip, and how anxious lie w;is to continue his jour- 
ney and get all to KO with him he came in contact with in this town, and 
cifcht miles from here at West Aimoiul, wliere I tlien lived, and on his way to 
Ouha, where my father and mother lived ai that tinie, it would explain much 
that he wrote me al)out. His project was, so far as the Indians were con- 
corned, to induce the tiovernment to pay them oft' for their land in sheep, 
and leave them to be a herding peoi)le. Hence he wrote in his letter to me 
about a secret fund that was controlled by the Cabinet, etc., and in his urgent 
solicitations was .so anxious to have Mr. .lackson, a brother-in-law, and my- 
self to go. He would have It, my aged parents, Judge Prentiss and wife, 
might endure the journey, and his solicitations outside of the family were 
just as urgent, portraying the beauties of that countr.v to all that would listen 
to his story. " * * * * * * * 

(Signed) J. G. PRENTISS. 



LIBRPRY OF CONGRESS 



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